Tequila
by hamm3rheart
Summary: She hated being played like a damn fool when it came to him. Tonight she was taking no prisoners...well, she intends to anyway.


Ryuko traced her old scars as she sat on the floor of her shower and noticed new ones; tiny welts with blood escaping the cuts on her thighs and tiny pinpricks of pain surging through her back. One would think she would be used to pain by now, since she got beat up practically all the goddamn time - since her job _demands_ it - but despite this, she never got used to it. Never liked it. However, it was a part of her job as a bodyguard for her sister, so she grinned and beared the pain. She donned her weapon of choice (a crimson sword, with a scissor-like handle) with pride as she wore her uniform (consisting of a black and red sailor shirt and instead of a skirt, she has black cargo pants) to guard her sister's estate that night; and at the first sign of unnatural movement, she was chasing after the intruder who had broken in without warning.

"Hey you! Stop!" She yelled as she ran and chased after the man as he stopped by the french doors that led to the indoor pool and tackled him through them. In the back of her mind, she knew it'll be coming out of her pay, but her concern faded when she grappled the guy as much as she could as they both fell into the water. She made sure to have inhaled some air before her body hit the cold and she continued to have her death grip, even though this man was currently punching the hell out of her ribs. Wincing and feeling the bandages she currently sported begin to damped with water, she withdrew a tiny knife from her side pocket and rammed it into his side before scrambling away from him and coming up for air. She quickly swam to the surface and after sputtering and getting her breathing together, she saw the guy also donned in all black; shoes, shirt, pants, mask, and gloves - emerge from the water and start to limp away; no doubt a thief, and she knew she'd done the right thing.

"Yeah, yeah that's right asshole! Keep it movin'! Don't you ever show your face around here again, I'll do worse than that!" She said as she got up and felt pain explode in her sides and on her back. She started to slightly limp away herself, but his voice stopped her.

"I doubt that very much, _princess_." The voice said both teasingly and haggardly as she stood there with a strange sense of deja vu. His voice…it sounded familiar…

Whatever.

"Pfft. Just you watch. I'll make sure no one even remotely comes close to harming my sister." She said as she staggered her way to her sister's bedroom as servants who'd heard the commotion rushed to the area to both clean up and ask questions.

"Lady Ryuko, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Where's Satsuki?"

"In her study looking over paperwork- Are you sure you don't need those injuries taken care of?"

"I said I'm _fine_ , dammit. Just make sure this isn't seen in the morning." She said as she made her way to Satsuki's study ( _damn near at the other side of the mansion_ ), and threw the doors open without warning.

"Satsuki, you had-"

"An intruder, I know. You did well on subduing him and running him out, but you need to go home and get your rest, clean yourself up and make sure you're at top form when you get back. Take a few days off."

"B-But, Satsuki-"

"I can't have my best guard all beat up and barely able to fend for herself, can I? Go and do as you're told… _little sister_." Satsuki said with a small smirk as she resumed looking over paperwork and Ryuko looked at her with a mix of anger and astonishment.

But she knew when she was being dismissed, so she left.

* * *

The cab ride home was a disaster. She had to pay extra because she kept bleeding on the back seat, and the taxi driver kept giving her lustful stares at her open uniform, and she had to consistently remind him to _keep his damn eyes on the road or else he'd kill them both._

The only relaxing part about her day was her shower; which is where she currently is.

Her ribs actually weren't _that bad_ ; just some slight bruising and swelling that she'd _definitely_ feel in the morning and the slight pinpricks of pain were actually from the door when she crashed through them with force.

Yep, that was _most definitely_ coming out of this month's pay. Not like it really mattered. She knew her sister wouldn't take out that much. Just enough that she knew it was an expense and that she wouldn't be able to afford a few luxuries.

Suddenly, the chorus to "We're In This Together" by Nine Inch Nails blared in the silence and she quickly turned off the shower and stumbled out frantically, in the direction of her bedroom and as she picked up, she was met with the gruff and surprisingly strained voice of her on/off lover, Aikuro, who spoke without greeting; which wasn't all that uncommon.

"Please tell me you have Tequila there. Preferably 1800." As he said this, she looked around and ran to her liquor cabinet and saw the reflection of the clear and blue bottle in the small amount of moonlight shining through her blinds.

"Yeah. Wait, you're coming over? I just got out of the shower, and I barely had time to clean my place. I-I've been pulling doubles with patrols-"

"Explain later, Ryuko. Buzz me in, I'm outside your front." She made a slight noise of rebuttal in the back of her throat, but did as she was asked and ran to grab a towel to dry herself off and one of his old white dress shirts and a pair of underwear to put on so he wouldn't think this was a simple booty call and leave - which again, wasn't all that uncommon.

She ran around her apartment, straightening up all she could in the short time she had before he was knocking on her door, and even though she'd braced herself for him to walk in her life again, her heart never failed to thud, her palms never ceased to sweat and her face never failed to erupt in a heated blush at the sight of him. Even as he simply did the same rap against her door - _a simple three taps_ \- her heart and body did _exactly_ as she knew it would. She realized her hair was still slightly damp so she grabbed her hairdryer that was beside her desk in her bedroom (along with a pair of dirty, sweaty, old socks that she wore - _maybe last week?_ ), and ran back to her front door to open it and at the sight of him leaning against her doorpost in all black with his hair in that same pushed back mop and his eyes; that striking cobalt blue that's haunted her dreams, she gulped and stepped back to let him in further-

Wait, _is he stumbling_? He's _injured_?!

"Shit, Aikuro!" She exclaimed as she stopped him from falling and helped him to her bathroom and ran back to her front door to close and lock it, but before she did so, she noticed the blood trailing up the stairs to her apartment. She knew she'd have to come downstairs at some point before her neighbors woke up to clean that to avoid questions and controversy. She walked back to her bathroom, turning on lights the whole way there and at the sight of more blood, she knew he had to have been seriously injured. Before walking to the bathroom, she grabbed the bottle of alcohol and her first aid kit. She could hear him groaning and his breathing was growing more and more strained.

"R…Ryuko…please…" He called faintly as she ran back to the bathroom and flipped the light switch, only to find him slumped over her toilet and clutching his side. A burning, sick feeling bubbled up in her chest as she looked at the grim state he was in and she made quick, but careful work of undressing him and as soon as she got his short and jacket off, she heard it splat on the ground, with the sound of wet and caked on blood.

Then she saw her dagger in his side and it all came back to her:

" _I doubt that very much,_ _ **princess**_ _."_

His voice, his actions, why everything about this criminal seemed so familiar is because _it was_. Angry, hot tears welled up in her eyes as she saw Aikuro smiling at her from behind his hair and she was stuck at a toss up of twisting the dagger in his side, speeding up his dying even more (because she was angry at him not only for deceiving her, but for all those times she's shared her bed, her food, her booze, her time and her heart with him; he'd never done the same in return. He always fell on her to provide everything, always.), and healing him, so she could yell at him properly.

She took out her frustration of everything about him, by healing him roughly. She yanked out the dagger and tossed it in the sink; causing him to scream and writhe, and quickly grabbed a towel and poured an ample amount of tequila on it and wiped at his wounds before pressing hard on the spot.

"Hold that, you piece of shit. I can't believe I'm even doing this for you. AND DON'T YOU SAY A FUCKING WORD OR ELSE I WILL STOP HEALING YOU AND LEAVE YOU TO DIE HERE IN MY GODDAMN BATHROOM!" She said as hot tears fell down her face and the burning in her throat was strong. As she opened the first aid kit, took out the surgical suture, prepped the needle and she began without warning, sewing into his skin. He grunted and groaned in pain, but they fell on deaf ears as she continued to sew until she was sure the wound was completely closed - or as closed as she could make it. She then slapped a few bandages over it and silently reassembled the first-aid kit, grabbed her bottle of tequila and left; slamming the door in her wake.

She could figure out who she was more pissed at; herself for stabbing him, or at him for all of the shit he piled on top of her. She concluded that both was a feasible answer and walked to her kitchen to grab a super gulp cup she got from 7-11, poured the alcohol inside and drank, without even stopping for a breath.

After a few minutes, Aikuro came out and went to the kitchen to grab a shot glass so she could pour him a shot and she glared at him as he instead grabbed the bottle and did it himself.

The burn was nice.

"Do you have any idea what you being here right now is doing for my sanity? Have you any notion of an idea what this is doing for my emotional state?!"

He put the glass down and looked down at her, that same fire he fell for a year ago, still present in her eyes. "Can't say I do. Although, I must say, _princess_ ," he said as he poured himself another shot and gulped it down; his face slightly wincing from the burn, and then contorting into a smirk.

"You have _one hell_ of a grapple."

She wanted to smack that smirk right off his fucking face. Her fist tightened around the cup she had and his smile died.

"All jokes aside…Ryuko. You knew Satsuki would have my head if she knew we were together. I'm a thief, you're the head of the princess' guard - and a princess yourself, I might add - but you chose to follow your own path-"

"And that path led me straight to you. I knew at some point you were gonna try and break into my sister's estate; you were on the wanted criminals list for years. Everyone knew about you and your reputation, how you evade cops and make them look like jackasses. I was determined to not be one of your pawns; I was determined to outsmart you…but…" The tears came back and raced down her face without warning and with her next words, her voice cracked and all you could hear was anguish, heartbreak and frustration.

"I ended up being used anyway! _I gave you anything you could've ever asked for!_ I fed you, clothed you, gave you booze when you asked for it, gave you a place to crash, hell, _I even let you fuck me_ and I was foolish enough to fall for all of your shitty charm and snake-like ways! I was an idiot - _I'm still an idiot!_ I fucking saved your life, and you're probably gonna drink more booze, eat some food, maybe fuck me and then leave me like you always do! So just go on… _use me_! Use me like you always do!" She said as she looked up at him and the shock on his face was one to make her stop her ranting altogether. He had a look of absolute conviction and her heart betrayed her by thudding in her chest once more.

"Ryuko…I had no idea-"

"Tch, well of course not. You were too busy seeing what else you could steal, be it my sister's belongings or my own. You didn't care, so I don't know why you're pretending-"

"Believe me, if I were pretending you'd know. Just…hear me out, okay?" He said as he limped over to her armchair and sat with a groan, while she continued to stand in her dining area.

"I was basically taught to fend for myself since I was young. I had no one to love me as carefully as your family loves you. I had no one to treat me with kindness, all I knew - _and still know_ \- is how to be selfish. 'Every man for himself,' and all that. I've had many lovers in the past, and we were pretty solid with what we've wanted from one another: sex, booze, food, disappear the next morning. No strings attached, no awkward phone calls the next morning or awkward texts asking 'so what are we now?' none of that. A wham, bam, thank you ma'am, and I'm out the door and out of their lives forever. And then, my boss tells me about this heist in the Kiryuin estate: a jade egg with bits of gold etched in. He said it was gorgeous, but the head guard there is her sister; a feisty girl with a mean temper and a meaner right hook. He suggested I seduce you; to toy with you a little to make each attempt more interesting, and I tried to, but never in my wildest dreams did I picture actually getting into bed with you; let alone falling for you." He said as he hit his head on the back of the armchair and she gasped as she saw the emotion in her eyes.

He wasn't lying.

"I apologize profusely for all the pain I've put you through in this past year, Lady Ryuko. Will I ever be forgiven?" He said as he sat up, got up and walked over to her as she kept her hed down; silent tears trailing down her face and her emotions and head being thrown for a goddamn loop. Here she was thinking he was gonna do the same shit and walk out of her life as calmy as he'd came, but he did the exact opposite and she didn't know how to react. She knew she wanted to forgive him; god, she wanted to.

But what would her sister think? The head guard, in a taboo relationship with a pety jewel thief? She could see the press now…making a mockery of the Kiryuin family. She'd never hear the end of it.

"I forgive you…but…" She lifted her head and a few tears trailed down still. "This is the last time we see each other. At least, until you reform. Start over with a clean slate. I can't tarnish my family name all because our jobs conflict with our personal affairs. You can't have your cake and eat it too."

"Ah, but the cake is delicious. It has such a _succulent_ frosting." Her face erupted with a blush and she bit her lip as he cupped her cheeks and wiped her tears with the pads of his thumbs.

"You want me with a clean slate? You got it. I'll quit my job and move away; start somewhere new." He said as he leaned in and gently kissed her forehead as he whispered:

"I wouldn't mind changing myself for a just cause. I wouldn't mind changing for you. It's time I start doing shit for you anyways, right?" He said with a chuckle as she laughed while sniffling, pulled him down by his necklace and smashed her lips to his.


End file.
